Scrabble FC secured their 11 consecutive victory as they closed in on the Division Two title with a merciless destruction of Temple Fortune on Matchday 16 of the MGBSFL where the game of the day saw defending champions North London Raiders A edged past Hendon United Sports Club A.
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LATEST NEWS: It was confirmed on Thursday that former MGBSFL champions Faithfold A have folded. This season's results have been expunged from the records, having lost 10 out of 10 in the Premier Division.
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MATCHDAY 16 HEADLINES
Prem Div - Rampant Raiders win again
Div 1 - Faithfold B frustrate Brady bunch
Div 2 - It's legs 11 for Scrabble FC
JC HAT-TRICK HEROES
Div 2 - Zak McLeod 5, Elliott Espinoza 4 (both Scrabble FC), Josh Bloom 4 (ML Lions B)
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VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: RAIDERS A vs HENDON A
MATCH PHOTOS: RAIDERS A vs HENDON A
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DANNY CARO'S MATCHDAY 16 AWARDS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK - ZAK McLEOD
MANAGER OF THE WEEK - JONATHAN ISON
GOAL OF THE WEEK - OSCAR WAGNER
QUOTE OF THE WEEK - RAY ABRAHAMS
SAVE OF THE WEEK
BEN ROSENTHAL (Woodford Wanderers) - kept his side in the game with a crucial one-on-one save against FC Team
REFEREE OF THE WEEK
Martin De La Fuente (NL Raiders A vs Hendon Utd SC A)
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JC TEAM OF THE WEEK: THE CONTENDERS
GK - Ophir Lethbridge (Catford & Bromley Maccabi), Ben Rosenthal (Woodford Wanderers), Russell Corin (Hendon A)
DEFENDERS - Justin Spiro, Alex Bloch (both NL Raiders A), Mark Wayne (Catford & Bromley Maccabi), Adam Leveson, Charles Braunstein (both NL Raiders C), Chaim Korman, Alex Rosenthal (both Hendon A), Alex Lewis, Benjy Israel, Sam Kramer, Jamie Kutner (all Los Blancos)
MIDFIELDERS - Zak McLeod, Elliott Espinoza, Josh Flax, Adam Waters (both Scrabble FC), Nick Lewis (NL Raiders A), Ben Sollosi (Redbridge JC A), Marc Woolfe, Alex Goodman (both NL Raiders C)
STRIKERS - Danny Sherman (Scrabble FC), Josh Bloom (ML Lions B), David Dinkin (NL Raiders A)
MANAGER - Rob Richman (NL Raiders A), Robert Silverman (Brixton Old Boys), Jonathan Ison (Los Blancos), Jeff Gotch (Catford & Bromley Maccabi)
REFEREE -
Email nominations to dcaro@thejc.com
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JC GOAL OF THE WEEK: THE CONTENDERS
- ZAK McLEOD (Scrabble FC) - opened the scoring against Fortune with an audacious 40-yard lob
- OSCAR WAGNER (NL Raiders A) - super-sub ended the defiance of Hendon keeper Russ Corin with an expertly taken finish
- YARDEN SHARON (Catford & Bromley Maccabi) - scored a delightfully header against Hendon
- BEN SOLLOSI (Redbridge JC A) - picked the ball up centrally about 18 yards out. He looked up and picked his spot with a curled finish to the keeper's left that was perfectly placed
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JC QUOTE OF THE WEEK: THE CONTENDERS
- JEFF GOTCH (Catford & Bromley Maccabi) - "That was my most proudest moment as a manager so far. Watching us battle back from a goal down and on the ropes to responding to my grilling to batter them second half"
- DARYL KAY (Woodford Wanderers) - "I said in our season preview that our mentality will be different this year and no one will have an easy game against us and I'm being proved exactly right. Great way to end the year!"
- ZACK GOTHELF (NL Raiders C) - "We've got a tough couple of games after the break but we'll be raring to go - it'll be worth bringing the cameras along to those games"
- RAY ABRAHAMS (Scrabble FC) - "All credit to the Temple Fortune players and management who turned out and played the game with a fantastic attitude and spirit despite the gulf in quality between the two sides. We hope things improve for them because they are a great club with a big tradition and hopefully they can regroup and try again next season"
- DAVID GARBACZ (Hendon A) - QUOTE 1 - "I was pleased for Oscar Wagner – he is a great young player who I have known since he was a baby and perhaps we should have snapped him up this season"
- DAVID GARBACZ (Hendon A) - QUOTE 2 - "With the disappointing and worrying Faithfold pull-out we now find ourselves in a Chelsea-like position at totally the wrong end of the table. I’m expecting the dreaded vote of confidence from the board any day now!"
- JON ISON (Los Blancos) - "They may have had the largest support of the season, with over 10 on the sidelines, but our squad of 12 (including me!) came up trumps on the day - proving quality over quantity"
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PETER MORRISON TROPHY ROUND 3 DRAW
CYRIL ANEKSTEIN CUP QUARTER-FINAL DRAW
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YOUR WEEKEND REVIEW STARTS HERE:
MGBSFL PREMIER DIVISION
TOP-SCORERS
15 - James Gershfield (Harmen)
12 - Dovi Fehler (Hendon A)
RAMPANT RAIDERS EXTEND PERFECT RUN
NORTH LONDON RAIDERS A 1 HENDON UNITED SPORTS CLUB A 0
Raiders won the clash of the titans at the Ark with a solitary strike from Oscar Wagner enough to extend their 100 per cent record and make it 24 points from eight games.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: RAIDERS A vs HENDON A
MATCH PHOTOS: RAIDERS A vs HENDON A
NLR boss Rob Richman told JC Sport: "There's a long way to go and we know everyone will push us hard in the second half of the season but we can be really pleased with our first half of the season and it caps off a brilliant 2015."
Hendon manager David Garbacz told JC Sport: "The difference is confidence and belief – Raiders are full of it and are superbly professional at closing a game out once they go ahead – although we played really well, because our results have been so unlike us this year we are not seeing games through or taking our chances."
DC Prediction: NLR 2 Hendon 1
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FIVE-STAR REDBRIDGE MAINTAIN TITLE HOPES
REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE A 5 FC TEAM A 0
A deadly double from Daniel Garfinkle helped Redbridge A boost their title hopes with a five-star win over FC Team.
Further strikes from Steve Summers, Ben Sollosi and top-scorer Sam Sollosi clinched RJC's fifth win of the season.
RJC boss Jon Jacobs told JC Sport: "5-0 and a clean sheet marks a great way to end the year and take us into 2016 where we open up with two massive cup ties against Hendon and Harmen and hopefully kick on from second place in the league."
DC Prediction: RJC 2 Team 1
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DIVISION ONE
TOP-SCORERS
19 - Reiss Mogilner (Brady Maccabi)
16 - Jacob Richler Kleiman (Oakwood B)
RESILIENT FAITHFOLD MAKE THEIR POINT
BRADY MACCABI 3 FAITHFOLD B 3
Faithfold B recorded one of the results of the day as they lifted some gloom from the club with a terrific 3-3 draw against table-toppers Brady Maccabi.
Reiss Mogilner, Daniel Harrod and Josh Newman were the goal men for Brady but Faithfold did enough to take a point from Rowley Lane.
DC Prediction: Brady 4 Faithfold 0
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ALL'S GOLD FOR BRIXTON
BRIXTON OLD BOYS 2 REDBRIDGE JEWISH CARE B 1
Gideon Gold and Josh Cohen helped Brixton Old Boys register their third win of the season as they edged past Redbridge B.
Jimmy Castle netted for RJC but it was Brixton celebrating at the end.
Brixton boss Robert Silverman told JC Sport: "With several regulars unavailable, we needed to start the match with players out of position. Furthermore our goalkeeper suffered a painful neck injury and had to be substituted in the early minutes. Under the circumstances, our team acquitted themselves well and worked really hard to win the three points."
DC Prediction: Brixton 3 RJC 2
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SOSOBAD RAM-RAIDED
NORTH LONDON RAIDERS B 3 REAL SOSOBAD 1
Raiders B ended a poor run of results with an impressive victory blowing a hole in Sosobad's promotion bid.
Jamie Shaw grabbed a consolation for the visitors.
DC Prediction: NLR 2 Real 2
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BLANCOS DENT SPEC'S PROMOTION HOPES
SPEC FC 2 LOS BLANCOS 3
SPEC FC's promotion challenge came to a halt as strikes from Darren Russell, Richard Hayim and Joel Kutner gave Blancos the points after a five-goal thriller.
Laurence Rosenthal and Dan Pike were the marksmen for SPEC but Blancos held on for the points.
Delighted Blancos boss Jon Ison told JC Sport: "I have said all season we can mix it with any team in the league when we have a full squad - we had many regulars missing today, so I expect other teams to be fearing Blancos moving into the second half of the season."
SPEC player-manager Ricky Lawrence told JC Sport: "We were second best for the majority of the second half and Blancos took their chances in fairness to them."
DC Prediction: SPEC 3 Blancos 2
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WILY WOODFORD GET THE JOB DONE
WOODFORD WANDERERS 2 FC TEAM B 1
A last-minute strike from Tom Alexander saw Woodford Wanderers give their promotion bid an almighty boost as they overcame FC Team at Fairlop.
Lorian Madanes had put Team in charge, but Woodford staged a thrilling late comeback with Martin Sales levelling on 87 minutes before Alexander's late show sparked scenes of wild celebrations.
Woodford joint-manager Daryl Kay told JC Sport: "This was probably the best win we've had this season. I said in our season preview that our mentality will be different this year and no one will have an easy game against us and I'm being proved exactly right. What a great way to end the year!"
Team player-manager Mitch Young told JC Sport: "It was a proper smash and grab job from Woodford but they are good guys and their keeper was man of the match."
DC Prediction: Woodford 1 Team 1
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DIVISION TWO
TOP-SCORERS
12 - Zak McLeod (Scrabble FC)
10 - Gav Noe (Real Hendon)
SUPER SCRABBLE HIT SWEET 16
SCRABBLE FC 16 TEMPLE FORTUNE 0
ZAK McLEOD (5) and ELLIOTT ESPINOZA (4) filled their boots as table-toppers Scrabble FC extended their winning run to 11 as they outclassed Temple Fortune in the top against bottom clash.
There were also goals for Don Nineberg, Jonathan Peters, Andy Cohen (2), Adam Waters (2) and Danny Sherman as Scrabble sealed their biggest win of the season.
Scrabble boss Ray Abrahams told JC Sport: "We took the opportunity today to improve our goal difference and we were really on fire but we take no pleasure in scores of this nature. But we achieved our 11th win on the spin and I'm so proud of the situation where we sit on top of the table with 33 points and a 100 per cent record at the half way point in the campaign."
DC Prediction: Scrabble 6 Fortune 0
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RAIDERS SHOW BAUMS WHAT FOUR
ATHLETIC BILBAUM 1 NORTH LONDON RAIDERS C 4
Promotion-chasing Raiders C completed a win treble for the club as they eased past Bilbaum at Market Road with strikes from Alex Goodman, Will Ufland, Alex Elf and Charles Braunstein.
NLR boss Zack Gothelf told JC Sport: "This was a really pleasing result, we always talk about starting strongly and scoring so early was great."
DC Prediction: Bilbaum 2 NLR 3
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CATS END 2015 IN STYLE
CATFORD & BROMLEY MACCABI 2 HENDON UNITED SPORTS CLUB B 1
Catford & Bromley ended the year in style as they put high-flying Hendon B to the sword at Meadow Park.
Jeff Gotch's men rallied after falling behind to a Ben Blackston goal with headers from Yarden Sharon and Jamie Sinai.
Gotch told JC Sport: "That was my most proudest moment as a manager so far. Watching us battle back from a goal down and on the ropes to responding to my grilling to batter them second half."
Hendon boss Adam Glekin told JC Sport: "It's three points thrown away and a horrible way to end the year, but thank goodness for the winter break which gives us a few weeks to sort out our disappointing form."
DC Prediction: Catford 2 Hendon 3
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TEAM AND SUPERHOOPS FINISH ALL SQUARE
FC TEAM C 1 FAITHFOLD C 1
FC Team and Faithfold ended in a stalemate in a result which did little to boost either side's league position.
DC Prediction: Team 3 Faithfold 2
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BLOOM PUTS LIONS IN 7-HEAVEN
MACCABI LONDON LIONS B 7 BOCA JEWNIORS 1
JOSH BLOOM fired a four-goal salvo as Lions B returned to winning ways with a crushing 7-1 success over Boca.
Ed Brafman, Elia Cohen and Daniel Fattal added the gloss for the promotion hopefuls from Rowley Lane.
Elio Elia fired a nice consolation goal for Boca and Anton Nyman told JC Sport: "We started far too slowly, giving away a goal after 20 seconds and it was a downhill spiral from there."
DC Prediction: Lions 4 Boca 1
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REAL HIT HIGH FIVES
REAL HENDON 5 L’EQUIPE 0
Real Hendon cruised to a 5-0 demolition over L'Equipe in a surprisingly one-sided contest.
DC Prediction: Real 2 L’Equipe 2